3-ring Maintenance
Why do you need to maintain the 3-ring system on a skydiving rig?
Skydiving rigs need periodic maintenance to keep them in top form. The 3-ring system that connects the harness to the main parachute needs maintenance to ensure that the pull force when cutting away remains low. Over time there is dark colored residue that will accumulate on the cutaway cables, causing them to bind and increase the pull force necessary to perform a cutaway.
When do you need to perform maintenance on the 3-ring system?
At the minimum, this maintenance should be performed at every reserve repack or every 180 days. If you are jumping regularly, then it should be performed monthly or every 30 days. If you are jumping in a “dirty” environment (eg. sand or dirt is predominant at that DZ) then you may want to clean them more often.
How to perform 3-ring maintenance?
While your rig is packed, disconnect the RSL (if present) and pull the cutaway handle until the cables are completely free. It isn’t entirely necessary to dissconnect the RSL first, but it does make subsequent steps easier to perform.
Lightly spray silicone lubricant onto a piece of paper towel and run this over the cutaway cables until there is no more black residue coming off from the cables.
Massage and twist the riser ends around the middle and small rings to get rid of any “memory” of the nylon webbing.
Reinsert the clean cutaway cables into the housing, being sure to pass the cable through the Collins Lanyard loop if a MARD (main-assisted reserve deployment) system is present.
Securely velcro the cutaway handle to the rig.
Reassembe the 3-ring system according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Reattach the RSL, if present.